We got off birth control when I was 27 or 28 and didn't conceive until 31.

But our fertility issues were male-related, which we knew due to testing.

Getting pregnant at 33 happened much more easily. Could be because things changed with him, could be because once you've been pregnant once, it's supposedly easier to get pregnant again, could have been a simple matter of timing.

__________________
SAHM to Magnolia May (09/10), Luke Russett (04/13) and expecting 11/16. Wife and best friend to my airman.

I think some couples are just very fertile. But on the whole, yes, without a doubt, fertility decreases as you get older. I am 40 and I don't know anyone who has had a baby easily in the past 2-3 years.

Everyone I know still seemed to have very decent fertility between 30-35 but after that is when the fertility doc discussions became a regular event.

I got pregnant in 2 cycles when I was 31 and when I was 36 it took 18mos and 1 miscarriage.

Newly expecting with #4 at 38. All of mine have been 29years +. DS2 took 10 cycles and I was 33. The other guys all took 1 or 2 cycles. I have friends still having unplanned babies in their 40s.

I was away this weekend at Brownie camp and all of us over 40 were laughing about how anyone who has a baby now is either horrified because it was an 'ooops' baby, or they paid a fertility doc $$$$ to make it happen. There doesn't seem to be an in between anymore!

Both my Grandmoms had babies at 42...(I am hoping to do the same LOL) and interestedly both my Grandmoms had babies after a 16 year gap from last baby to the newest baby... Both Grandmom's continued to be married to the same Grandpops during that time as well.

__________________
Adoption is my option!Adoptive Mom to Cory (9 years old)
Heartbreakingly long wait to adopt baby 2. (8 years waiting at this point with no end in sight) Please lord..end this wait soon.

My mom had two surprise pregnancies in her 40s. One because she left her IUD in 13 years. with the other she assumed she was safe due to age and scar tissue. She wasn't very sexually active, I don't think (very unhappy marriage). I don't think she went through menopause until mid fifties. All but one of us were unplanned, conceived from 16 to 42--all spread out.

My grandma had seven kids conceived from 17-38. The spacing grew in her 30s. Initially the kids were only 12-24 months apart. The last two were added after 5 year gaps. No idea what their sexual frequency was or if they tried to prevent.

I got pregnant the first 2 times very quickly, like hey wanna get pregnant? Sure! We should try now then and wham pregnant the first month trying. I had DD1 when I was 30, DS1 when I was 32, I wasn't ready for more until I was 34. We tried for over a year without success and a miscarriage to show for it. We finally went to a RE and did fertility treatments for about 9 months with a couple of chemical pregnancies along the way, and got the added bonus of watching my FSH rise. I felt like hello body clock thanks for the slap in the face, although the rise could've been due to clomid as well which has been shown to raise FSH levels in the months following taking it. We went into one last hail mary cycle before IVF so we tried high dose follistim to see how I would react, ultimately like a rockstar thankfully with a super low FSH. I triggered on CD7 for an IUI on CD9 with 4 decent follies in play,got pg with DD2 and had her at 37. We started trying again when she was 1 in December 2008 deciding to forgo any fertility treatments at all and if it happened it happened. We tried every month from then on, in April 2010 I said enough is enough this will be the last month I will temp, take supplements, pee on every stick I see, and schedule sex. I had a couple of chemicals trying for #4 as well, gosh they are evil witches. Sure enough DS2 was on the way, and I had him when I was 40.

Based on my history I will encourage my girls to not wait until well in their 30's. It is a crazy rollercoaster I wouldn't wish on even the worst person.

__________________Kim, a doing what works for us mama toS (06/01), J (03/03), M (12/07) and S (01/11)

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain. - Vivian Greene

I have never been on birth control, and I easily conceived DD1 & DD2 (within a month or two of trying with DD1, first time trying with DD2). I am now 32, about to turn 33 and we started TTC #3 when I was 31, and it took 13 cycles to become pregnant. So for me fertility has gone down the tubes as I age for sure!!

I had DD & DS in my 20s. I had DD2 in my early 30s. I was celebate for years by choice until 11/09. I had DD3 in 12/10 at 39 (on oral BCP). I am delivering DS2 soon (EDD 2-25) and became pregnant less than 4 months after having my IUD removed. I am 41 and will be 42 in May.

So I guess for me, I have not really noticed a decrease. And I have had very easy pregnancies all 5 times. Even at 41, I still work FT, chase a 2 year old, get the almost 8 year old to activities etc.

I think there are definitely "average" that are biologically based, but there do also seem to be many individual differences as well.